This Great Pet Photography Will Make You Smile Today

French poet Anatole France once succinctly said, “Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” His statement captures our unbreakable relationship with animals, including our closest allies, our pets. They faithfully stand by our side through every challenge. The least we can do for them is preserve and immortalize their memories through photography. While this is a crucial part of pet photography, the genre offers much more than freezing our cherished moments. It now goes beyond and teaches us priceless lessons both as artists and human beings.

All images used with permission in our interviews with the photographers.

Pets Can Make You a Better Photographer

It goes without saying: Pet photography is as challenging as any other genre in the medium. While making portraits of your furry friends is a doorway to remembering every minute of idiosyncracies, much of it also boils down to your creativity and zest. Whether a dog or a cat, one can’t quickly get them to look at the camera, stand for lengthy durations, or smile! But photographer Grace Chon achieves this effortlessly.

Analyzing the photograph above, we can see a shining example here. Grace’s image takes a candid and hilarious moment that compels us to smile. Not only is this a cute dog doing something positively goofy, but we can tell that the image was originally taken upside down. It’s a unique perspective that takes a thinking photographer. For many of us, there’s a struggle between the technical and the artistic side — and we often say that they’re doing their best to speak their second languages in a dialogue with one another. Here, Grace has found a way to capture a moment that’s innately human. And she applies her own techniques to it to make us want to stare at the photograph. We can all agree that this is a very non-traditional image of a dog — and that’s only the tip of the iceberg of what makes it so great.

Her well-lit photographs can be used as framed portraits and merchandise such as posters, calendars, and more. The colors are well-balanced, the composition is immaculate, and the props make the photographs stylish and distinct. Moreover, the facets conjoin harmoniously, with Chon peppering everything with humor. In her interview with The Phoblographer, Chon said how she achieves her striking pictures, “I like to look at an idea from all angles and think a lot about how to push ideas to be even better, considering if there is a more interesting or entertaining way to tell the story.”

You can follow Grace Chon on her Instagram @thegracechon.

Pet Photography is Rewarding

The secret sauce of pet photography is not social media gratification but our ability to connect with furry friends. Sure, a cute dog photograph taken with your cellphone can get you a thousand likes, but does it, in any way, help you to understand your pet or yourself? We don’t think so.

There’s so much that we can say about Cheryl’s photograph above. We don’t know what the original looked like, but we’re pretty sure that she needed to do some journalistic post-production to make the image workable considering the dynamic range. But that’s just the technical side. Looking at the image, we can see that she anticipated the moment — which means that she was very in tune with what was happening before her. That’s something that some of the best sports photographers really try to have. Cherly knew that her pup was going to leap for the ball, and considering the entire landscape that we’re in, she made a photograph that encapsulates the beauty of the moment. We see a wet landscape that is bound to make any dog’s tail wag. There’s a beautiful background of the forest and the sun shining bright. For sure, if you’re a dog-lover, then you understand that this dog must’ve been extremely happy. We possibly would’ve cropped the image in more, but that’s more of a personal preference. And as it is, the image is very effective at making us experience the moment. This, in truth, is what good photography does.

It is why photographer Cheryl Senter‘s images of rescued dogs reveal the importance of pet photography. You can almost feel the joy and love emanating through the screen in her whimsical black-and-white photographs. Senter’s use of light, her ability to anticipate the moment, and her use of high contrast add an exciting layer to the picture. But that’s not all. Senter notes how pet photography helped her get out of a dark time, proving that spending time with our pets during these sessions can lead to the prize we call ‘peace.’ “During this time, I was building a freelance career after losing my 22-year staff photog job and was caregiving for my elderly parents who had Alzheimer’s and dementia. I found it therapeutic documenting my dogs, focusing on something positive,” she told us in our previous interview.

You can follow Cheryl Senter on her Instagram @cherylsenter and @tea_journals.

It is Immensely Delightful

As much as pet photography can alleviate the stress of an anxious or lousy day at work, it is also a great way to have fun! Christian Vieler‘s hilarious series Dogs Catching Treats is an excellent example. From anxiety to joy, his series captures an ever-expanding gamut of expressions of his sitter. The images are just adorable, revealing how humane these dogs are. For instance, in one photograph, Vieler captures two dogs going for the same treat, much like siblings fighting for chocolates. “The basic idea will never stop being exciting, fun, and inspiring for me,” Vieler told us in our previous exclusive interview with us. “These ‘Dogs Catching Treats’ pictures let us see emotional facets within dogs that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to see with such clarity: panic, joy, desire, supreme pleasure. That simply never gets boring.”

Let’s take a look at the photo above as an example of Christian’s incredible work. He photographed a moment that isn’t really visible with the human eye — and that makes it so incredibly unique. The moment a dog catches a treat happens so fast that it’s tough for many of us to even register it. This moment is especially incredible because we see how the dog very narrowly misses the treat. However, there’s also a moment of tension. If the dog is quick enough, it could turn its head and gobble up the snack. Will it happen? We’re not sure. But the anticipation, anxiety we previously spoke of, and the ability to capture this moment makes it that much better of a photo to us.

You can follow Christian Vieler on his Instagram @vieler.photography.

In conclusion, pet photography helps you understand yourself and hone your craft as a photographer and a storyteller. Mastering the in-depth knowledge about your gear, lights, compositions, and subject will require dedication and patience. However, after you have passed all the hurdles, pet photography can be the most fun you have had in a long time—making all the initial frustrations worth it.